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OF A Yoim 





















GAGE OL 




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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MEDITATIONS OF A 
YOUNG MAN 



MEDITATIONS OF A 
YOUNG MAN 



BY 

GAGE OLCOTT 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

1914 



111 4 



COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY CHARLES S. OLCOTT 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

Published Septemher XQ14 



S^P-S'%C1.A379386 



FOREWORD 

THE habit of meditation belongs 
to age rather than youth, and to 
women more than men. The young 
man of to-day — if he has good red 
blood in his veins — is eager to succeed 
in his chosen calling, to be well informed 
on all the subjects of current interest, 
and to take an active part in the various 
recreations and amusements that appeal 
to his nature. His hours of work are 
spent in contact with men of affairs, 
whose talk is of business. His hours of 
leisure are passed in the company of 
young people, where good fellowship and 
the lighter topics of society leave little 
chance for deeper reflections. 

It is natural, therefore, to express a 
[ v] 



FOREWORD 

feeling of surprise when we find a young 
man of this type, full of the joys of living, 
devoting serious thought to the deep 
underlying questions involved in the 
spiritual nature of mankind and the 
future life. 

My son. Gage, who was called to enter 
the larger life in the twenty-seventh 
year of his age, was a young man of pe- 
culiarly happy disposition. He was tall, 
well-built, fond of athletics, and pos- 
sessed of excellent health. No one ever 
enjoyed witnessing a game of football, 
baseball, or hockey, more than he. A 
loyal Princetonian and a graduate of the 
Class of 1909, he joyously attended the 
class reunions. He worked industriously 
at his business and incidentally studied 
the problems of banking and currency 
which it suggested. Always fond of his 
home, he looked forward to the time 
[ vi] 



FOREWORD 

when he should be happily married and 
have a home of his own. He would have 
made an ideal father, for children in- 
stinctively loved him. His buoyant na- 
ture was such that only those who were 
nearest to him knew that he cared to 
ponder upon the deeper subjects of 
life. 

His parents knew that he was in the 
habit of writing at intervals in a small 
memorandum book. He mentioned it to 
no one, never offered to read extracts 
from it, and his mother, who had seen 
the book in his desk, respected his privacy 
and did not read it. 

The contents of this book were, there- 
fore, known only to its author until the 
1 2th day of March, 1914. We had said 
farewell to the earthly form of our boy in 
the morning of that day, and after re- 
turning from Mount Auburn, the family 
[ vii 1 



FOREWORD 

gathered in the room where we had so 
often felt the joy of his presence. The 
little book was reverently taken from his 
desk and again our son was with us. 
Not the laughing, joking, pleasure-loving 
boy of yesterday, but the man of mature 
mind, whose deeper nature was revealed 
in the meditations which he had writ- 
ten only to express his own thought to 
himself. Beneath his outward joyousness 
was a thoughtful reserve, the existence 
of which we knew, though we had never 
sounded its depths. With no fear that 
other eyes would penetrate the sanctuary 
of his inner soul, he wrote precisely what 
was in his mind. 

As we read the pages of this book, now 
suddenly become precious to us, we 
seemed to hear the voice of our beloved 
speaking from his heart of hearts out of 
Eternity. Since then I have been per- 
[ viii 1 



FOREWORD 

suaded by friends who have seen the 
papers that I ought to let this voice 
speak to other young men, that they, 
too, may be inspired, perhaps, to think 
of the same subjects and to record their 
thoughts. 

The papers here given are selected 
from the diary as the ones most likely to 
prove of permanent interest. Inter- 
spersed with them, but not here in- 
cluded, were discussions of the current 
affairs of the day, the tariff and cur- 
rency legislation, the trusts, the Mexican 
war, the Japanese situation, etc., and 
one humorous story. 

The original diary contains no sub- 
headings, and the divisions are marked 
only by the dates when they were writ- 
ten. I have supplied titles, for the sake 
of convenience, but otherwise the ar- 
ticles are printed as they were writ- 
[ix] 



FOREWORD 

ten. I have ventured to give them the 
general title, " Meditations of a Young 
Man." 

Charles S. Olcott. 

MARCH, 1 91 4. 



CONTENTS 

Hope i 

The Certainty of the Coming of Spring . 4 

The Essence of Spirituality .... 9 

The Purpose of Life 13 

Imagination 17 

Large Questions and Small Minds . .27 

Woman 31 

Self-Control 34 

Self-Esteem 39 

National Character as revealed by the 

Newspapers 45 

The Divine Spark 47 

Immortality 52 

The Panorama of our Thoughts . . .56 

The Spirit's Form 61 

The Universe of the Mind .... 64 



MEDITATIONS OF A 
YOUNG MAN 

HOPE 

A YEAR ago yesterday, the papers 
were filled with the news of the 
Titanic, but with the exception of a 
few articles and editorials, the anniver- 
sary of this terrible catastrophe has 
passed almost unnoticed. This shows 
plainly how quickly we forget even the 
most harrowing happenings, and that it 
only takes time to efface from the mind 
the thought of past sorrows and suffer- 
ings. One of the factors which make 
this possible, and, indeed, the customary 
thing, is the deeply planted spring of 
li ] 



HOPE 

hope which is in humanity the world 
over, so that we are caused unconsciously 
to focus our thoughts on the future and 
to believe sincerely that an improved 
state of things will surely come to us 
eventually. The hope within us is the 
one thing which makes the present 
uncomfortable state of existence bear- 
able. 

In the hour of sorrow, or in the hour of 
defeat, there is a little spark of feeling 
deep within which makes us feel that we 
have not yet reached the end of things 
and that there is really no such thing as 
despair, but that we have the power 
within ourselves to rally and surmount 
the climax of darkness that surrounds 
us. That little ray of sunshine pene- 
trates the deep gloom, and we eagerly 
seize upon it and are cheered to meet all 
obstacles or misfortunes which come 

l2] 



HOPE 

upon us, because it convinces us of a 
great, broad, and beautiful future that 
must finally be ours. 

APRIL 15, 1913. 



THE CERTAINTY OF THE 
COMING OF SPRING 

UP to date April has been March. 
We have had none of those warm, 
balmy spring mornings which are usually 
ushered in at about this time of year. It 
has been windy and cold, the wind con- 
sistently in the northwest. Strange to 
say, the entire winter through which we 
have just passed produced but one or 
two days during which the wind blew 
from that quarter, which is to say the 
present winter has been an exceedingly 
open one, with the natural result of a 
cold and probably long-delayed spring. 
Nature distributes the same general 
average of heat and cold throughout the 
years, but she is neither methodical nor 
[4] 



CERTAINTY OF SPRING 

exact in her dealings. Thus are we re- 
lieved of a deadly monotony, the results 
of which we can easily conceive as hav- 
ing a most disheartening effect on our 
spirits and general temperaments. 

In a few weeks, however, spring will be 
here in all her glory. There is consider- 
able food for thought in our certainty of 
that prophecy. We know it is true be- 
cause our experience in years which have 
passed has been a constant and invaria- 
ble witness to that truth. We have 
always watched the buds begin to open, 
and eagerly sniffed the delightful, soft 
air every year at about this time, and 
the experience has implanted itself within 
our subconsciousness. Thus in February 
we say, "Spring is not a long way off," 
even though at the moment we are 
breasting a wild, wintry storm. This 
conclusion, then, is satisfactory enough, as 
[5] 



CERTAINTY OF SPRING 

a logical deduction reached from a prem- 
ise founded on a general truth, which 
we have found to exist and in which we 
thoroughly believe, because of our per- 
sonal experience, which has never varied 
throughout the years. Personal expe- 
rience is not sufficient, however. The 
number of years which we have on this 
earth is altogether too small for us to 
form any judgments or conclusions from 
what we have personally observed, 
which could by any possibility be infalli- 
ble. An uneducated or illiterate person 
always forms the most fantastic and in- 
accurate ideas regarding the natural 
phenomena of nature. And yet such a 
person is simply giving expression to 
thoughts which have resulted from per- 
sonal observation. He, too, would be 
certain of spring's approach because of 
his share in the common experience, but 
[6] 



CERTAINTY OF SPRING 

this would be the only reason he could 
assign. To find a real basis for believing 
so thoroughly in this prophecy of 
spring, we are forced to view the matter 
from a scientific standpoint, and to un- 
derstand the laws of nature which gov- 
ern the seasons through investigating 
the working of the factors which influ- 
ence them most directly. In other words, 
it is essential to understand that the uni- 
verse conforms to certain fundamental 
laws, which are uniform and unchange- 
able. As soon as we learn that nature's 
laws are unchangeable and eternal, then 
we have a basis for accurately computing 
their probable effect throughout the uni- 
verse, as we gradually acquire the neces- 
sary data. The one essential is to realize 
the invariability of natural laws. This 
alone is a sufficient basis to explain the 
change in seasons. The great mass of 
[7] 



CERTAINTY OF SPRING 

scientific detail necessary to make it 
clear is simply a secondary considera- 
tion. It is this knowledge of the great 
fundamental laws governing the world, 
which must be added to our personal 
experience, before we can be absolutely 
certain when we say, "Spring is com- 
ing." It is true that these laws of nature 
have become known to man through per- 
sonal observation and experience, but 
they represent the long, arduous re- 
search and struggle of thousands and 
thousands of men throughout countless 
centuries, as they bent all the force of 
intelligence and will into lifting the veil 
of nature. Our own individual experi- 
ence is nothing. The experience of all 
mankind is everything, because it has 
opened the door to nature, and handed 
us the key. 

APRIL 21, 1913. 



THE ESSENCE OF 
SPIRITUALITY 

STROLLING down Washington 
Street the other night I was sud- 
denly brought to a pause by the distant 
sound of an approaching band. In a few 
moments the music was upon me and the 
great stirring notes of the "Marseillaise" 
arose on the air. Behind the band 
marched a motley throng of men and 
women, singing wildly and lustily, and 
gayly waving variously colored flags and 
pennants, principally red. The parade 
was evidently a Socialist demonstration 
of some sort, but the important point of 
it all was the tremendous earnestness 
manifested. Those men and women 
cheered and sang with deep feeling, while 
[9] 



ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY 

that thrilling march of the old French 
Revolutionary days aroused the emotion 
of all who listened, whatsoever might be 
their sympathies with the cause for which 
it was playing. Which goes to prove that 
the real emotions and spirit of mankind 
are essentially the same at all times. Hu- 
man nature is the same all over the globe, 
with like capabilities for being aroused 
by what is greater or finer than itself. In 
other words, humanity has within itself a 
divine essence of spirituality, which lies 
latent and deep down in the heart, but 
which is quickly aroused into expression 
by a genuine appeal. Individually, hu- 
manity does not dream of the richness of 
its spiritual possessions. Collectively, it 
reveals them time and time again under 
the stress of certain circumstances. The 
great parade of laboring-men repre- 
sented a class of men who are not rea- 

[ 10] 



ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY 

soners, nor worthy of the slightest claim 
to be called thinking men, but their 
deeper-seated emotions were stirred into 
passion by the soul-thrilling notes of the 
"Marseillaise," and for the time being 
they were the oppressed and down-trod- 
den masses, asserting their divine in- 
heritance, as men destined to freedom 
and equality with their oppressors. The 
spirit was aroused to action by the 
march, and revealed that at heart these 
men were in no sense different from the 
mob who stormed the Bastille, nor, at an 
earlier date, from our own little army 
which fought for its rights at Yorktown. 
These Socialists felt instinctively that 
they were giving expression to their con- 
victions, that they were mistreated by 
their employers, and that society as now 
constituted was radically wrong. They 
had no remedy to offer of a practical na- 
[ II 1 



ESSENCE OF SPIRITUALITY 

ture, and probably few of them could 
reason out the exact terms of their griev- 
ances, and how society should be prop- 
erly adjusted. But their emotions 
were aroused, and the latent spirit of 
mankind was revealed in them, as the 
majestic tones of the grand old song 
arose on high, for they believed they 
were marching on to a higher and a bet- 
ter state of living. 

MAY 4, I913. 



THE PURPOSE OF LIFE 

THE question of man's purpose 
in life is an ever -recurring one. 
There have been any number of theories 
expressed, but to my mind they all sift 
down into two fundamental propositions. 
The first is that a man is placed on the 
earth for the one purpose of developing 
his own character to the highest possible 
point, mentally, morally, and spiritually; 
that the ultimate destiny of mankind is 
perfection; and that the duty of the in- 
dividual is to realize the fact by devoting 
his life to personal striving for that great 
goal. The other theory states that self- 
sacrifice and lifelong devotion to the needs 
of society, or the public welfare, are the 
essentials of life. In other words, no man 
[ 13 1 



PURPOSE OF LIFE 

can realize his highest inherent capabili- 
ties and really justify his existence on 
earth, unless he forget self entirely and 
devote all his powers and thoughts to 
public service. 

At first sight these two views of the 
question appear to be contradictory, if 
not antagonistic. For how can a man 
develop himself to the best of his ability, 
and at the same time put aside thoughts 
of self? And yet in each theory there 
seems to be a vital truth. Is it possible 
to reconcile the two ideas, or must we 
recognize one of them as best expressing 
our own belief and discard the other? In 
my opinion it is possible to establish the 
former position. These two theories of 
life appear to be mutually exclusive, 
but if we are to understand the true 
meaning underlying them, we must take 
them conjointly, the one explaining the 
[14] 



PURPOSE OF LIFE 

other. In this way we shall find that, 
taken together, they express a great and 
profound truth which is closer by far to 
realism than is approached by either 
taken by itself. 

In order that a man may devote him- 
self to the service of humanity, he must 
necessarily prepare himself for that life, 
that he may have something of genuine 
value to give. If he has nothing of value 
to give society, then his announcement 
of devoting himself to its welfare is 
empty banality and not to be taken seri- 
ously. If, on the other hand, his greatest 
ambition and purpose is to prepare him- 
self by all the means at his command to be 
fitted for his ideal of service to human- 
ity, then he will have a definite personal 
value to society. Therefore, he must de- 
velop himself intellectually and morally 
as a preparatory step to the real purpose 
[ IS) 



PURPOSE OF LIFE 

of his life, the consummation of his spir- 
itual nature by giving himself to others in 
a service of love and self-sacrifice. And 
just as we find it necessary for him to 
develop himself in this way as a prelim- 
inary essential to his future, so do we find 
that in his life of devotion to other inter- 
ests than his own, he is unconsciously in- 
creasing his personal development of 
character along all the lines demanded 
by the first theory advanced. And so are 
the two theories in reality one, both 
necessary to the greater truth which lies 
beneath them, and to which they simply 
give expression, that the best there is in 
man comes out when he realizes his spir- 
itual nature and makes the profound 
purpose of his life to follow its dictates. 

MAY 7, 1913. 



IMAGINATION 

WITHOUT imagination life must 
be very prosaic and uninterest- 
ing. The man who accepts things as 
they are and plods along day after day 
in the same old routine must find living a 
pretty dull affair. Such a person prob- 
ably often expresses dissatisfaction with 
the world and the people in it, while 
wondering why he was ever born. To be 
bored with one's self, and to feel bored 
by others, is simply an evidence of lack 
of imagination, or else disinclination to 
make any use of that marvelously rich 
endowment of the faculties. For exam- 
ple, I can pass a most uneventful and dull 
afternoon in taking a trip to Nantasket. 
I can board the little harbor steamer, sit 
[ 17 1 



IMAGINATION 

within and peruse a newspaper all the 
way to Pemberton. At that point I can 
arise and walk out with the crowd to the 
waiting electric cars, which wend their 
way by the seashore the rest of the route. 
The journey can be uninteresting to a 
degree if I choose to make it so, by re- 
maining in a passive, non-thinking state 
of mind; I can merely contemplate my 
fellow passengers indifferently, and list- 
lessly glance at the harbor with unseeing 
eyes, observe the great sweep of the 
ocean perfunctorily, and simply move 
with the crowd as one among many, a 
human piece of driftwood. 

On the other hand, presuming I pos- 
sess an imagination, I am instantly alert 
as I select a well-chosen point of vantage 
on the forward deck. I have no time for 
newspapers. I am taking in all of the 
harbor that I can see, with one long in- 
[ i8 ] 



IMAGINATION 

tense glance. I note, to the left, a small 
United States gunboat, and observe a 
tiny dory made fast to her cable chain. I 
surmise she is used in conveying the 
bluecoats to shore, and I wonder at what 
times they are permitted shore leave. I 
am constrained to speculate on the life 
of the marine, and whether or not I 
should care to enter that service. 
Thoughts of long voyages to far-distant 
ports fill my mind, and a subsequent idea 
flashes before my eyes, of what place 
that little gunboat would have in the 
event of war. I watch great flocks of sea 
gulls and I am absorbed in wondering 
contemplation of their graceful flight, 
resembling, as they soar, the modern 
monoplane. 

As we sail farther down the harbor I 
suddenly become a great hero. There is 
a cry from the aft side of the boat, a 
[ 19] 



IMAGINATION 

shrieking woman pointing blindly down 
into the great wave formed as we plough 
along, which follows us relentlessly. 
Here, in the surging foam and spray, I 
see a little red object cast about roughly 
by the waves and rapidly disappearing 
in the distance. In an instant my coat is 
off, my hat thrown on the deck, and I am 
taking a mighty dive into the dark, rush- 
ing waters. With a few powerful strokes 
I reach the object just as it sinks beneath 
the surface. Undismayed I take a deep 
breath and swim down, head first; with 
my eyes open and strained madly. I see 
the object, grasp it just as I am about to 
choke for want of air, and bring it up to 
the surface with me. Gasping for breath, 
I struggle with the waves, making more 
secure my grasp of the little helpless girl 
whom I perceive I have rescued in the 
very nick of time. Fighting my way 

[ 20] 






IMAGINATION 

blindly, I swim in the general direction 
of the boat, which I note has slowed 
down and is coming to a stop. I hear 
great shouting and apparently much 
confusion among those on board. I 
dimly see a mass of gesticulating men 
and women crowded over the port rail 
and am conscious of a tremendous ex- 
citement in the air. Gradually I force 
my way through the heavy ground swell, 
and in great exhaustion, but still firmly 
clutching my precious burden, I reach 
the side of the vessel. After this point I 
remember nothing. I awake, lying on a 
clean white cot in a cabin under the for- 
ward deck, and am greatly astonished by 
the number of persons standing in the 
room and staring at me curiously. 

And so I day-dream further and 
further on, until unconsciously I am be- 
come a most frightful egotist and 

[21 ] 



IMAGINATION 

scarcely realize how absurd and impos- 
sible my visions of myself have become. 
For the time being, however, I have en- 
joyed myself hugely, because I have 
flown on the wings of fancy and have 
been unburdened by the sternly admon- 
ishing voice of reason and common 
sense. You see, by the time I reach 
Pemberton, I have had a thrilling adven- 
ture in which I alone have played the 
central role. I have been a hero and have 
received the unqualified admiration and 
homage of all the multitude. Of course 
it is childish and impossible, and I should 
under no circumstances dream of relat- 
ing my flight of fancy to a cold, indiffer- 
ent outsider. I believe, however, that 
there are others who have pictured 
themselves in the role of the heroic. It is 
only natural to believe ourselves capable 
of the greatest and most splendid 

[22 ] 



IMAGINATION 

achievements, and consequently a sym- 
pathetic imagination portrays us will- 
ingly as really accomplishing our secret 
ambitions to shine illustriously in the 
heaven of the heroic. If we allow a free 
rein to imagination, we are masters of 
the universe. 

The great drawback to this innocent 
little pleasure is, of course, the final de- 
scending to earth, and the rather vacant 
feeling that we have, after all, only 
wasted valuable time. This is due pri- 
marily to the vivid contrast between the 
world of the imagination and the world 
of reality. The cut-and-dried and com- 
monplace actualities of the visible seem 
to shock the senses, after we have been 
soaring in a delightful infinity of wonder- 
ful possibilities. At the same time we 
realize our life must be lived among the 
actualities, and not among the possibili- 

[23 ] 



IMAGINATION 

ties. Hence we are impressed with a 
sense of futility and our common sense 
chides us with wasting our time. Yet we 
value the imagination as one of our 
greatest faculties. And it is a man's 
greatest asset. The one necessity is to 
place upon it a certain restraint, that of 
reason and common sense, — else would 
we be silly dreamers and of no real worth 
in the world. 

The great men of history have all been 
gifted with unusually fine imagination. 
In planning campaigns, Napoleon made 
a limitless use of that faculty, possessing 
an insight and vision of depth and 
breadth surpassed by none. George 
Washington pictured a mighty nation on 
this side of the water, free and prosper- 
ous, and independent of all other nations. 
He saw this vision at the time of the 
Boston Tea-Party, when few, if any, of 
I 24] 



i 



IMAGINATION 

his fellow countrymen really believed the 
colonies would ever be severed from the 
mother country. And so with Lincoln, 
as he viewed the menacing and sinister 
growth of slavery in the South. By the 
aid of his imagination he saw the ugly 
ulcer on our national life grow to prodi- 
gious proportions and permeate the coun- 
try with all its wretched misery and suf- 
fering, inflicting its cruel injustice upon 
the negro and leaving the white man 
hard and callous. Further than that, he 
saw before his mind's eye a nation torn 
asunder by dissension and distrust as a 
result of the growing evil. In our own 
time we have an example of the tremen- 
dous power of a trained imagination, 
backed by an indomitable will power, in 
the person of Edison. A dreamer who 
makes his marvelous dreams come true, 
is Edison. It is difficult to comprehend 
l^sl 



IMAGINATION 

the tremendous scope of his exceedingly- 
fertile mind, but we can at least realize 
the great force of his imagination. The' 
results speak for themselves. They are 
visualized dreams, realities constructed 
from immaterial thought. 

And so, after all, we find that the dull, 
commonplace realities of life are made 
vitally interesting and worth while if we 
look at them through the spectacles of im- 
agination. Our afternoon is an enjoyable 
affair if we follow fancy where she leads, 
tempering too great an exuberance by 
judicious common sense. And best of all, 
we firmly believe in the strength and 
power of that faculty to aid us in our on- 
ward march through life; and we know 
that, without imagination, man is verily 
nothing. 

MAY 13, I913. 



LARGE QUESTIONS AND 
SMALL MINDS 

THERE are problems which as- 
sume an aspect of tremendous 
importance before the mind's eye simply 
because they are close at hand and press- 
ing. If we possessed greater brain capa- 
city and a broader vision, such questions 
would sink into relative inconsequential- 
ity. We should then judge them more 
accurately and justly, because of our 
decision being made dispassionately. 
The great difficulty is, of course, to view 
the problem impersonally, reducing it to 
its proper position in relation to other 
questions and to its true importance as 
a subject of vital interest. To view the 
problem from a broad, far-seeing view- 
[27] 



LARGE QUESTIONS -SMALL MINDS 

point, we must first eliminate self. Our 
own immediate concern predominates in 
our first view of the matter, which is 
simply the cropping-out of the oldest of 
all instincts in human nature, that of 
self-preservation. This more or less self- 
ish concern must be brushed aside, or we 
shall be quite unable to form an impar- 
tial and unprejudiced judgment uninflu- 
enced by thoughts of self-interest. Look- 
ing at the matter in an unbiased and 
dispassionate manner, we shall then be 
more able to exercise our cooler reason- 
ing powers and calm thinking faculties 
in arriving at a decision. The relative 
importance of the subject under consid- 
eration would, of course, vary with every 
man who gave it thought. The point 
is, that it would assume proportions in 
accordance with the size of the brain 
engaged upon it. The deep thinker of 
[28] 



LARGE QUESTIONS -SMALL MINDS 

broad sympathies, possessing wide in- 
tellectual experience and insight, would 
at once see the problem in its proper 
relationship to society and so pass judg- 
ment. The small mind, however, would 
see it only from one viewpoint, that of 
self. Such a mind would be affrighted 
easily, should there be prospects of the 
problem becoming a personal one with a 
possibility of undesirable effects to arise 
as a consequence. The question might 
readily assume great proportions to such 
a mind, and its importance be much 
exaggerated. 

It would be difficult to persuade the 
man of narrow ideas and a small outlook 
on life, that there are very few questions 
of vital importance in a sense of their 
having a universal effect on humanity as 
a whole. There are innumerable prob- 
lems constantly arising that must be 
[29I 



LARGE QUESTIONS -SMALL MINDS 

settled as they come up, but taken all in 
all, their bearing on the progress of the 
world and the destiny of the universe 
is practically negligible. They assume 
large proportions because small minds 
consider them, and do not see their little- 
ness compared with the greater scheme 
of life. The problem of problems is to 
acquire that mind which sees all ques- 
tions, great or small, in their true light; 
is not frightened by the sinister aspect of 
any of them; and is able to pass cool, 
seasoned judgment upon them all. 

MAY 20, 191 3. 



1 



WOMAN 

THERE is a song which is sung by 
men, more particularly younger 
men, in subdued tones and with a hint of 
awe and a tinge of romantic feeling. The 
chorus ends, "And I learned about wo- 
men from her." The song purports to 
relate the experience of a man who trav- 
els to various wild and half-civilized 
lands through the globe and what hap- 
pens to the poor fellow whenever he 
meets with one of the gentler sex. The 
unexpected always happens to him, and 
he is proven to have a woeful lack of dis- 
cernment in gauging a woman. However, 
as the chorus emphatically indicates, he 
progresses. His experience seems to be 
his sole educator, so that we presume, if 
[31 1 



WOMAN 

the song only lasts long enough, we may 
confidently expect to find in him, at last, 
a superb judge of all womankind. 

The hint of mystery and the hushed 
notes of awe which accompany the ren- 
dition of the song are the factors which 
compel for it a more than ordinary in- 
terest. The old, old idea of the Eternal 
Feminine, the baffling mystery of the 
ages, provides the theme, and mere man 
eagerly imbibes with a thirsty soul, and 
gives it forth in reverent, low tones of 
awe. And so the song is a success. 

This sense of mystery and unreality 
thrown about woman is simply the out- 
growth in man of his passionate desire to 
worship at the shrine of the unknown 
and inexplicable. It is man who makes 
woman mysterious. Not to understand a 
woman is the principal reason for being 
really interested in her. What is un- 
[ 32 1 



WOMAN 

known is baffling to the senses, and a 
constant spur to the imagination. Hence 
the natural sequence of clothing the op- 
posite sex in a garb of mystery and wor- 
shiping at her shrine. And the ladies, 
God bless them, are wise enough to keep 
quiet and get away with it. 

JUNE 26, 1913. 



SELF-CONTROL 

THERE is a proverb of the Japan- 
ese which states that he who has 
conquered himself is greater than he who 
has conquered ten thousand men. This 
expresses in a nutshell the secret of suc- 
cess, the real success, which means the 
individual development of character to 
the greatest point. Whether financial or 
social success has been achieved is beside 
the question. The truly successful man 
is he who has mastered his own destiny 
and who rules his life and all his actions 
by means of his will power. Such a man 
respects himself and commands the re- 
spect of those about him. The force of 
his self-developed character is a living, 
vital thing and makes itself felt wher- 
[34] 



SELF-CONTROL 

ever he is present. Knowing the power 
he possesses over himself, he feels an im- 
mense confidence and strength in dealing 
with other people. Problems which 
would completely floor a weaker charac- 
ter possess no terrors for him. He at- 
tacks them with pleasure, and is never so 
happy as when engaged in mastering 
them, nor so filled with satisfaction as 
when he has been successful. 

But his greatest satisfaction is in 
knowing that he has conquered himself 
and is master of his own soul. No ma- 
terial failures or discouragements can 
darken such a man's life, nor can criti- 
cism, nor the dislike of his enemies mar 
the content in his heart. Come what 
may, he looks out on life unafraid, cheer- 
fully, and with a clear conscience, be- 
cause he knows he has won the greatest 
battle of all. The proportion of one to 
I 35] 



SELF-CONTROL 

een thousand is about correct in estimat- 
ing the number of men who have 
achieved this greatest of all successes. 
The difficulty of gaining control over 
one's own inclinations, desires, and gen- 
eral habits is extremely great. It is still 
harder to force one's self to conform to a 
certain life dictated by the mind. The 
latter is impossible unless the primary 
control over the body be accomplished. 
This can only be done by a system of 
slow daily training, requiring infinite 
patience and a fundamental mental de- 
termination never to cease trying. The 
greatest obstacles in the path are, first, 
the instinctive desire in every man to 
follow the line of least resistance; in 
other words, laziness. And second, the 
natural antipathy to giving up long- 
established modes of living. Moreover, 
there is often the fear of offending society 
[36] 



SELF-CONTROL 

by apparently refusing to live in accord- 
ance with its dictates or conventions. 
That is, a man fears what his neighbor 
will say or think. It takes a great 
amount of courage and will power to sur- 
mount all three obstacles, but it is pos- 
sible if the primary mental determina- 
tion is strong enough completely to 
dominate the mind. The slower daily 
efforts which follow, bring about the 
gradual but ever -increasing influx of 
strength, which accumulates as latent 
power. The will power grows by each 
little successful domination over a bodily 
impulse, just as, conversely, it weakens 
each time the latter conquers. The time 
must come, therefore, when the man 
finds that he can successfully control his 
own actions, and is absolutely master of 
himself. 

The further development of character 
[37] 



SELF-CONTROL 

to its highest efficiency will follow as a 
matter of course, for the man who has 
within himself the strength to rule him- 
self will not be content until he has 
brought out all his inward capabilities. 
And his greatest blessing is his own in- 
tense satisfaction in having fought and 
won a great battle. 

JULY 8, 1 91 3. 



SELF-ESTEEM 

ABROAD-MINDED man Is 
rarely an egotist. Breadth of vi- 
sion and personal conceit are incompati- 
ble. For he who thinks at all must sooner 
or later realize what a small place he oc- 
cupies in the scheme of things. First of 
all, it must be perceived that we had 
nothing whatsoever to do with our being 
here. We do not know how we happen to 
be existing, or why. We had no respon- 
sibility in the matter. Our first remem- 
brance of personal consciousness is bur- 
ied in the vague haze of long ago, and 
there is absolutely no idea of a starting- 
place. We simply have to accept the 
fact that we are and that we now possess 
a personal and individual consciousness. 
[39l 



SELF-ESTEEM 

If we happen to be born wealthy, it is of 
no merit in itself. Nor are we to reckon 
ourselves of more or less importance be- 
cause of the race or color with which we 
find ourselves aligned. Whether we are 
born black or white or yellow, is not of 
our choosing. While a man may consider 
himself fortunate that he happened to be 
created a member of the most progres- 
sive and most highly developed race, yet 
he has no reason to consider himself, 
because of that birth, entitled to any 
especial merit. Pride of family and race 
is legitimate and wholesome, but is often 
carried too far. Then it is necessary to 
reflect on the chance happening of indi- 
vidual creation, and arrogance and great 
pride must needs vanish. 

If, then, we were not responsible for 
coming into the world, we have as little 
to do with the magnificent body which 
[40] 



SELF-ESTEEM 

we find we possess. We can learn a great 
deal in connection with its physical 
structure by study and work, but there is 
none of us who can construct a new one, 
although we have at hand all the essen- 
tial chemical constituents. The body has 
reached its present state of perfection 
(perfect in every particular with the one 
exception of a complete mind, which na- 
ture has left for mankind itself eventually 
to achieve) after millions of years of 
slow, difficult growth, in which experi- 
ment after experiment must have been 
tried. In its last greatest stage, a perfect 
body, we find ourselves intrenched. And 
we call it "our body," although we our- 
selves had not the slightest part in its 
construction. We simply happen to be 
within it, and neither know whence 
"we" came to occupy it, nor who cre- 
ated, in the first place, that thing which 
[41 J 



SELF-ESTEEM 

we call "self," the soul in command of 
the body. There are two things, there- 
fore, which must considerably reduce 
any aspect which we might have of our 
own importance — first, that we have 
nothing to do with being alive as far as 
we know; and, second, that the body 
within which we exist has come into our 
possession through no efforts of our own, 
is beyond any power we have to dupli- 
cate, and is certainly more than the iso- 
lated consciousness we call "self" would 
seem to deserve. 

To further reduce the bump of self- 
esteem the following method is excellent. 
It consists in taking a walk on a bright, 
starry night and the expenditure of a 
short time in gazing up into the heavens. 
As we contemplate the vast number of 
stars which meet our gaze and concen- 
trate our thoughts in speculating about 
[42] 



SELF-ESTEEM 

them, it is only a short time before we 
realize the smallness and insignificance 
of our own individual selves. We can 
select practically any star in the heavens, 
and know that it is a prodigious sun, 
compared to which our own giver of light 
is but a pygmy. We know that each one 
of these suns is the center of a solar sys- 
tem, surrounded presumably by planets 
like those around our sun. We are aware, 
also, of the immense distance existing 
not only between the earth and each 
star, but between the individual suns. 
Further than that it is undoubtedly the 
case that the visible universe is but an 
infinitely small portion of creation. Be- 
yond our universe, there are unending 
solar systems of which we can form no 
conception whatever. It is a vista of 
worlds presented to the mind's eye which 
makes the imagination stagger. The im- 
[43 ] 



SELF-ESTEEM 

mensity of boundless space is equally- 
difficult to picture or comprehend. If, 
then, we rightly judge our earth as a 
mere bubble in the sea of cosmos, what 
must we consider our own importance in 
the scheme of infinite creation? We 
surely have little occasion to look upon 
ourselves with the pride of conceit. The 
essential thing is to realize that we are 
simply souls created by a divine and in- 
explicable power for a certain, definite 
purpose which our finite mind interprets 
as a struggle to attain character — both 
individually and as a people. If we per- 
ceive that we are definitely related to the 
great plan of existence, however small a 
part we may play in that scheme, then 
we possess the proper perspective, and 
our view of it is broad and wholesome. 
Self-esteem is then quite impossible. 

JULY 22, 1913. 



NATIONAL CHARACTER AS 
REVEALED BY THE NEWS- 
PAPERS 

THE most important news of to- 
day, in the estimation of one 
newspaper, is apparent in the huge black 
headline, "Thaw Baby 111." What an 
impression the reading of this important 
news item would have on a highly cul- 
tured and educated foreigner. We trust 
he would read other papers before form- 
ing an opinion of the American people. 
And yet this paper caters to a class com- 
prising the largest percentage of our citi- 
zens. If, then, it is true that the newspa- 
pers merely reflect their readers' minds 
in giving to them what they demand, we 
are forced to a sad conclusion regard- 
ing the largest element of our national 
make-up. It indicates a low order of 
l4Sl 



NATIONAL CHARACTER 

mental culture to be interested only in 
the sensational or in the superficial and 
commonplace. Yet this newspaper is 
saturated with items of this kind, while 
exaggeration permeates its sheets. The 
readers devour with avidity, and after 
perusal, believe they have really read the 
news of the day. Ignorance, credulity, 
and stupidity all belong to readers of this 
paper. And yet we hear many wise men 
say, "Let the people rule"; forgetting 
the people are on quite a lower stratum 
of intelligence than themselves. The 
trouble is that only a small minority of 
our citizens are energetic enough to use 
even fifty per cent of the brain power of 
which they are capable. The rest drift 
along on a working basis of fifteen per 
cent, or less, and the latter are "the peo- 
ple," and read the yellow newspapers. 

AUGUST 29, 191 3. 



THE DIVINE SPARK 

THERE are natures in which the 
capacity to feel the genuine and 
finer emotions of life is limited. To suf- 
fer vicariously is an indication of a highly 
developed character, and denotes a 
spirit in which unselfishness and human 
sympathy are the strongest and deepest 
qualities. On the other hand, there are 
persons who are seldom if ever roused or 
stirred at heart, and such people we 
characterize as being cold and callous. 
Untouched by the sorrow of others, un- 
sympathetic and hard of heart, they 
seem to wind a way through life, an 
object of concern to those nearest them, 
and of secret pity to others. Some of 
them are hypocritical, avowing a sym- 
[47I 



THE DIVINE SPARK 

pathy and warmness of heart which they 
are far from feeling. These are cowardly 
for they are brainy enough to under- 
stand the great place which a true heart 
holds in the community and to compre- 
hend the virtues of sympathetic quali- 
ties, and are therefore loath to be found 
wanting by those with whom they come 
in contact. They therefore act, and fool 
no one. For what is genuine is always 
instantly recognized. Spirits commune 
much more readily and expeditiously 
than is ever appreciated. Two persons 
talk to each other, but in the course of 
the conversation each individual spirit 
is probing and plumbing and sizing up the 
other. Each places the other before the 
outward surface talk has finished. Hence 
the hypocrite, pretending to the deeper 
emotions of the heart, is quickly de- 
tected. 

[48I 



THE DIVINE SPARK 
And there are others, who are sincere, 
frankly admitting the charge of being 
incapable of feeling such emotions, and 
further confessing much concern and 
distress at discovering the fact. 

Such a person observes on every hand 
the broad play of spiritual emotion 
throughout humanity, and genuinely 
envies his fellow mortals who possess 
hearts, while there is a lamentable ab- 
sence of one, apparently, as far as he is 
concerned. 

In the latter case the probability is 
strong that the* nature is as yet unawak- 
ened — that the spiritual qualities have 
not received as yet the necessary stimu- 
lus to action. There are men whose na- 
ture or personality is so deep that only 
the greatest appeal is effective. The soul 
slumbers on day after day, the summers 
speed by, and life apparently holds no 
[49I 



THE DIVINE SPARK 

meaning. Then comes a sudden great 
shock, a mighty call out of the unknown, 
an appeal so great that the soul is shaken 
to the very depths, and the heart re- 
sponds with the first true and real emo- 
tion. Such an awakening may come in 
any form, the voice of a tiny child con- 
fiding its baby secrets, or the thrilling 
notes of a martial song, or the passion- 
ate, vibrant words of a great speaker de- 
manding the lives of his fellow men in 
service for a great cause. When the na- 
ture, by whatever means, is genuinely ap- 
pealed to, the heart instantly responds. 
The slow, heavy nature may go years 
before the necessary stimulus appears, 
but the capacity to feel is there all the 
time. 

Such people, frankly confessing a 
doubt as to whether or not they really 
possess a heart, need feel no distress, for 
[50] 



THE DIVINE SPARK 

they can rest assured that the Divine 
Spirit resides in all, and that it sleeps but 
temporarily within them. 

Those, however, who pretend to what 
they do not feel are in real danger. The 
constant simulation of the genuine 
dwarfs the nature and so atrophies the 
spirit that the divine spark is well-nigh 
buried beneath an ugly, false, and un- 
natural growth. The goodness of the 
Infinite is shown, however, in the fact 
that even in such natures the divine 
spark never goes quite out. 

SEPTEMBER I4, I913. 



IMMORTALITY 

SIR OLIVER LODGE has de- 
livered an address which has at- 
tracted considerable attention among 
thinking people. He submits as his fun- 
damental contention the assertion that 
personality persists beyond the grave. 
After outlining the reasons for his belief, 
he ends with a plea for more serious con- 
sideration of what is usually designated 
as the "occult." 

Although it seems problematical, in- 
deed, whether or not any genuine pro- 
gress will ever be made in the realm of 
pure psychical research, yet there is 
every reason for accepting his primary 
assertion, that life continues after death. 
It is only ignorance and egotism which 
[52] 



IMMORTALITY 

can dictate the contrary belief that death 
ends all. To assert such a belief is to as- 
sume a knowledge of infinite extent 
which is both paradoxical and absurd. 
Frankly to admit an utter lack of under- 
standing in regard to the matter, is logi- 
cal and sane, even though such a course 
stamps one as somewhat lacking in im- 
agination. There are many agnostics 
through sheer laziness. 

To deny immortality simply indicates 
a mind which has little conception of 
itself, to say nothing of the vast sur- 
rounding universe. There are an infini- 
tude of facts observable through life 
which are inexplicable — even by the 
greatest scientists. The relation of pure 
thought to the internal mechanism of the 
mind, with its consequent reactions, is, 
as yet, an unsolved riddle. The emotions 
generated, apparently near the heart, 
I S3 I 



IMMORTALITY 

are an object of unsuccessful study by 
physiologists. The force of will power or 
the qualities of courage and self-confi- 
dence are all characteristics of personal- 
ity which are but little understood. In 
the wider field of the great world of na- 
ture, there are countless mysteries into 
which the mind of man is just beginning 
to delve. 

In other words, why should any one 
man, knowing so little in regard to his 
own personality and so very little in re- 
gard to what surrounds him, set himself 
up as qualified to assert his disbelief in 
a life beyond that apparent to his senses. 
As man's mind is finite, so is his capacity 
to understand life finite and limited. The 
knowledge of infinity is possible only to 
the Infinite. The finite can only hazard a 
guess that infinity alone can explain the 
inexplicable. If we were infinite, we 
[S4l 



IMMORTALITY 

should know whence came our universe, 
why we live, and what is our future des- 
tiny. Being finite, we can only speculate, 
but we can at least use common sense, 
and appreciate that there must be a 
Great Intelligence in charge of both our- 
selves and that great world of which our 
knowledge is so meager and limited. 
The fact of a living personality is no less 
a marvel than the dream of a future life. 

SEPTEMBER 1$, IQIj. 



THE PANORAMA OF OUR 
THOUGHTS 

IF we were to have presented before 
us, on a screen, an exact reproduc- 
tion, in panoramic form, of our thoughts 
for one day, we should probably be 
highly amazed. Not only that, but we 
should also be inclined, no doubt, to 
blush, or to be indignant and unbeliev- 
ing. And last, but not least, we should 
probably view with great distress the 
utterly illogical and disconnected ideas 
which follow one after another in chrono- 
logical sequence. We wake to find it 
raining, and picture wearing soft cap and 
raincoat to business. Then follows a pic- 
ture of Guimet playing golf on a wet 
links, and then of an English editorial 
IS6] 



PANORAMA OF OUR THOUGHTS 

claiming Ouimet won the championship 
from Ray and Vardon because he so thor- 
oughly knew the course at the Country 
Club, and then a picture of what such a 
whimpering English sportsman must 
look like. Then we have the whole Eng- 
lish nation flitting before our eyes, — 
flitting because at this exact moment a 
subconscious impulse lands us squarely 
out of bed. And now floats before the 
mind's eye a beautiful picture of a lus- 
cious cantaloupe which we hope will 
start the breakfast, and a newspaper 
glides in behind. Who won the game.^* — 
and baseball holds the limelight. Quickly 
changing the scene, we speculate upon 
the football situation, and in a few 
seconds have reviewed two entire past 
seasons, and are just at the moment won- 
dering whether or not coaching is, in the 
last analysis, the true explanation of a 
[57] 



PANORAMA OF OUR THOUGHTS 

successful team, when we find ourself at 
breakfast. Glimpsing the paper, a mar- 
velous shifting and a kaleidoscopic 
changing of pictures ensue. We see the 
Interstate Commerce Commission de- 
livering its severe reprimand to the New 
Haven, and all the past wrecks emerge 
in a swoop while we remember a ride 
on the Merchants' Limited, and espe- 
cially recall the absence of any fear we 
then experienced. And then, old friend 
Harry Thaw obtrudes, but his per- 
sonality quickly fades as we ponder 
over the whole legal procedure in his 
case, especially the flock of habeas 
corpuses which flit about him. This 
speculation brings the thought that, 
as a matter of fact, we are shame- 
fully ignorant in regard to courts and 
assizes and probates and various other 
legal subjects, and that we ought to 
I 58] 



PANORAMA OF OUR THOUGHTS 

make an effort to become better in- 
formed, and presto! — How about night 
school? To study law? But we decide 
with regret that this is not possible just 
at present. (Nor ever will be — de- 
scends a secret little thought way down 
into the subconscious mind.) 

Thus do our thoughts shift and change 
and reappear in different forms, until at 
last we get down to the actual business 
of the day, when we concentrate upon 
that before us which demands real 
thinking. And upon the ability so to 
hold and concentrate the thoughts, suc- 
cess in accomplishing tangible results 
depends. The mind is a state of con- 
stantly shifting fields of consciousness. 
So quick and varied are the changes 
that in the panorama of a few hours a 
most confusing and apparently unre- 
lated array of ideas is presented. We 
[S9l 



PANORAMA OF OUR THOUGHTS 

know, however, that every thought is 
associated with its predecessor in some 
way, though lightning-like changes make 
it difficult to perceive the direct connec- 
tions. We have the faculty, however 
(strongly developed in some), of holding 
the thoughts concentrated upon one pre- 
dominating idea, and the strength of 
this faculty determines whether or not 
we are sound thinkers. Any one can 
float all day in a maze of dreams and 
ideas, but it takes a strong mind to 
solve the problems of life. The pity is 
that we so dislike the effort necessary to 
concentrate. As Helen Keller says, "The 
thinking of most people is infantile." 

SEPTEMBER 30, I913. 



THE SPIRIT'S FORM 

TO look at the world from a ma- 
terialistic viewpoint is inane, 
showing both lack of imagination and 
reasoning power. A man possessed of 
good eyesight does not put on smoked 
glasses to view a gorgeous sunset. Why- 
should any one, then, voluntarily as- 
sume the gross and ugly spectacles of 
materialism in viewing the handiwork of 
nature as revealed in humanity? It is so 
self-evident that we are spirits, dealing 
with spirits. If the cynical disbeliever in 
religion sneers at the word "spirit," call 
it "mind." At all odds, we understand 
perfectly that something within us is the 
actual self, the ego, and the veriest cynic 
must admit it. The question of what 
I6i 1 



THE SPIRIT'S FORM 

that self is has caused numberless vol- 
umes of philosophy and psychology to 
fill our libraries. We simply call it spirit, 
and think of it as our real self. The body 
shelters it, and has no other value. 

On all sides are kindred spirits. In 
everyday life, spirit deals with spirit, 
words simply serving a convenient 
means of exchange, while faces are 
masks pure and simple. When one man 
prevails upon another to his wishes, it is 
a case of a stronger spirit dominating a 
weaker. The actual words have nothing 
to do with the case. A thrilling speaker 
sways a great audience, not through fine 
gestures, nor beautiful expression, but 
through the magnetism of personality, 
which is spirit. All humanity is simply 
spirit personified, and matter, in the 
form of body, is merely one of nature's 
devices made necessary by the particular 

[62] 



THE SPIRIT'S FORM 

circumstances and complexion of this 
particular dwelling-spot in the universe. 
Spirits are alike throughout creation, 
because the essence of each is the same 
identical spark of Divinity which pro- 
duced the whole scheme of things. 
Therefore, to worry over the actual ap- 
pearance of a "spirit" in the next world 
is simply childish, for when that chapter 
opens we shall find things very much as 
at present — we shall still know, with 
the same certainty, that we are spirits or 
souls or minds, and that around us are 
exactly the same, differing only in qual- 
ity. The material covering of that inner 
self bears no significance whatsoever. 

DECEMBER I5, I9I3. 



THE UNIVERSE OF THE 
MIND 

THE mind is a great universe in 
which ideas and thoughts are 
stars. It is infinite in extent, and unlim- 
ited in capacity to absorb knowledge, 
except by the one circumstance of phys- 
ical endurance for concentration. If we 
were perfect machines, needing neither 
rest nor repairs, and were granted suffi- 
cient time, we could acquire a knowledge 
of any chosen subject which would abso- 
lutely amaze us. Those who have spent 
years of research upon a subject know 
the value of daily concentration. They 
realize how readily the mind absorbs 
new ideas, and tabulates the thoughts in 
accordance with their relation to the 
I64I 



UNIVERSE OF THE MIND 

subject-matter. The more intense the 
concentration, the more receptive proves 
the mind, and the keener in its analyzing 
power. There is no limit to brain capacity 
in itself. The mind is ours and will serve 
us to the furthest extent of our wishes. 
But unless we have the determination 
to make it serve our purposes, it is sim- 
ply a potential power, lying unconsid- 
ered at our door. The mind can achieve 
nothing unless it be controlled and di- 
rected by the spirit behind it. This spirit 
we sometimes call will power. Whatever 
its designation, the fact remains that 
mind responds to a spiritual force and 
does its bidding. If the spirit is strong, 
determined, and unyielding, the mind 
will bring to pass the object sought. 
The ability, for example, to acquire a 
new language is possessed by all of us, 
and our doing so depends entirely upon 
I 6s] 



UNIVERSE OF THE MIND 

the strength of our determination to ac- 
complish the feat. The will power be- 
hind the mind decides its greatness or 
smallness. A healthy mind can be made 
a powerful instrument. Whether or not 
it is made one, rests with the spirit by 
which it is controlled. 

DECEMBER 26, I9I3. 



THE END 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 




iliiiii 

018 392 122 8 



